FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a common arrangement for installing a toilet 10. A closet flange 12 is seated in a hole in bathroom floor 14 to provide a passageway from the toilet's outlet drain to a soil pipe. Closet flange 12 is circumferentially sealed by a wax ring 16. A pair of closet bolts 20 are received through diametrically opposed slots 13 in closet flange 12 and extend vertically upward from bathroom floor 14. Toilet 10 includes a base 18 having a pair of mounting holes 19 corresponding to the pair of closet bolts 20.
During installation of toilet 10, the toilet is manually lifted and positioned over wax ring 16 such that the pair of mounting holes 19 in the base of the toilet are respectively aligned with the pair of closet bolts 20 along the vertical axes of the closet bolts. Once alignment is achieved, toilet 10 is lowered such that closet bolts 20 extend through mounting holes 19 and the base 18 of toilet 10 rests on bathroom floor 14. Securing nuts (not shown) may be tightened onto closet bolts 20 to fix the toilet in place, and cosmetic covers (not shown) may be installed over mounting holes 19 to hide the bolted connection.
Significant strength and skill are required to properly install the toilet. A recognized difficulty is that it is hard to see the closet bolts during the alignment step because the toilet itself blocks overhead light. Since the toilet is heavy, it is difficult to lower the toilet onto closet bolts 20 while maintaining alignment. Often, only one of the two mounting holes 19 is aligned with its corresponding closet bolt 20 as the aligned mounting hole begins to receive the top of the closet bolt, and the toilet must be lifted up and adjusted in an attempt to align the other mounting hole with the other closet bolt. Since the closet bolts 20 move at the slightest touch, this situation is the source of much frustration, especially for do-it-yourselfers who lack toilet installation experience. It is important to have complete alignment of mounting holes 19 with closet bolts 20 before toilet 10 is lowered onto the closet bolts.
Another problem that occurs during toilet installation is that wax ring 16 may be inadvertently knocked out of alignment with the center of the drain hole or damaged by contact with the toilet. This problem occurs more frequently when a taller double wax ring is used because standard closet bolts are too short in relation to the wax ring. This problem is usually discovered after installation because the leakage occurs.
If taller non-standard closet bolts are used, and/or if the wax ring is crushed down during installation, the top end of each closet bolt may extend up too far through the corresponding mounting hole such that a cosmetic cover (“beauty cap”) cannot be placed over the mounting hole to hide the bolted connection. Cutting the closet bolts down to a shorter size after installation is challenging and commonly results in damage to the toilet's finish and/or bent closet bolts. Therefore, it is desirable to pre-cut the closet bolts down to a final desired height prior to installation of the toilet. However, as described above, short closet bolts make installation more difficult.
What is needed is a toilet installation tool that solves the problems mentioned above so that professional plumbers and do-it-yourselfers can install a toilet correctly on the first try.